New Delhi: The Congress has given the name of senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha. The post will fall vacant with the retirement of MP Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Kharge (78), who was Leader of Congress in the previous Lok Sabha, was elected to Rajya Sabha in June last year after the party leadership decided to accommodate him in the Upper House, as he had lost the 2019 polls.
He will be the second leader from Karnataka to be the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha after M S Gurupadaswamy.
Ghulam Nabi Azad was among the four members in the Rajya Sabha who retired on Tuesday. Azad was given an emotional farewell by the House and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who broke into tears while heaping praises on the Congress leader.
In his speech, Modi said it would be difficult for anyone to fill the shoes of Ghulam Azad as he cared not only about his political affiliation but also about the country and Rajya Sabha.